Sound change: variation and regularity

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Abstract

In this paper I attempt to match the data on the degree of regularity of phonetic changes adduced by sociolinguists and specialists in historical and comparative linguistics with the data on language acquisition and brain mechanisms on which it is based. I conclude that despite the variation existing in any language at any moment of time human brain architecture and language acquisition mechanisms determine that, in a long-term perspective, phonetic changes are mostly regular.

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About the authors

Svetlana A. Burlak

Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences; Lomonosov Moscow State University

Author for correspondence.
Email: svetlana.burlak@bk.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow; Moscow

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